


Prelude to a Formal Introduction

by mcgarrygirl78



Series: The Story of Us [1]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Drama, F/M, Humor, Pre-Series, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-26
Updated: 2013-08-26
Packaged: 2017-12-24 18:27:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/943215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcgarrygirl78/pseuds/mcgarrygirl78
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Oh Mark, you're so damn adorable when you're pretending not to be crazy about me.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Prelude to a Formal Introduction

**Author's Note:**

> Please don’t ask me because I don’t even know. I just loved them so much in the first fic and they haven’t gone away and this is what they're doing right now.

She liked the quiet. There was something about the quiet with him that made her feel calm. Where Erin was right now there was no quiet. The dorms were always buzzing with something. 

Classes were loud, instruction was busy, and training was hell. She was going to get through it…at this point Erin had little doubt. But who thought, after four years of college and two getting a Master’s degree that she would need a month’s vacation after six months at the FBI Academy. Mark was like a mini-vacation whenever she got the chance to see him. 

“I have a question.” He said.

“I'm sure I have an answer.”

“Are you sure?”

“I'm pretty sure.” Erin nodded. “But I haven’t heard the question yet…this could be a setup.”

“Not a setup.” He shook his head. 

“What's up?” Erin looked at him. 

He smiled when he looked at her face. She rubbed his arm. She didn’t want to think about really starting to like this guy. There were a million other things she needed to be doing at the moment and really liking this guy wasn’t one of them. It wasn’t that Mark wasn’t likable. 

He was from a well-to-do family, he was smart, ambitious, attractive, and knew how to hold up his end of a conversation. Erin had tested all of his equipment, intellectual and otherwise, and it got high scores. He made her laugh, he made her think; he made her forget about David Rossi when they were together. Mark was the kind of guy you brought home to mom. He was the kind of guy that made you happy. He was prime first husband material. Erin had never met someone so right at the wrong time in her life.

“I've found myself in a bit of a bind, you see.” Mark slipped his hand into hers as he talked. 

She accepted it with little fanfare, a good thing. Erin Strauss wasn’t the touchy type. In bed, and a few other places where they'd had sex, she was fine. Nothing about her was frigid. But she also appreciated personal space. 

Mark had a good eye…he saw her working on it. She would occasionally touch his arm, his back, his shoulder, to show that she wasn’t physically repulsed by him. He did his best to not overwhelm her with touch. It was hard when you were falling for someone. Most things came easy to Mark Cramer. 

Erin was a challenge. He didn’t want to change her or put her into a box. He wanted to get to the center of her. It would probably take forever. He had little doubt it would be an adventure.

“Do tell.”

“Someone let me know recently that I've been talking up this amazing girl I met.” He said. “I didn’t even realize I was doing it but apparently I was. She’s just so incredible, I guess I couldn’t help it. The senior Senator also noticed. So on Monday he asked me to bring her along to his wife’s birthday dinner on Sunday. 

“I may have thrown out an excuse or two; she’s very, very busy. But I was encouraged to bring her just the same. I don’t want to show her off like designer cufflinks. I also don’t want to disappoint the Senator. And that’s my bind.”

“People show off designer cufflinks?” Erin asked.

“I just bought my first pair from Sax’s for the party. They set me back a bit but it’s a sacrifice I'm willing to make. I should’ve had several pairs by now.”

“So let me see if I have this straight. You’ve made up this wonderful woman you're dating and now your boss wants you to bring said woman to a dinner party?”

“She's not exactly made up.” Mark said.

“So what's the problem?”

“I don’t want her to think I see her as an accessory. I don’t want her to think I'm pushing too fast for something she might want to take slow. Maybe I want to take it slow as well.”

“It’s just a dinner party, Mark. I say you ask her…what's the worse she could say?”

“She could say no.” He said.

“You'll never know if you don’t try. You're the Brave Little Toaster type, just do it.”

“Brave Little Toaster?” Mark raised an eyebrow.

“I'm still working on my motivational speech skills.” Erin shrugged.

Mark nodded, and they walked in silence for a while. It was a random Tuesday evening and he’d taken her to dinner in DC. Erin was really busy in her last six weeks in the FBI Academy but she appreciated the distraction. She was happy to put on something that wasn’t khakis and a uniform tee shirt. She was happy to do her hair and put on lipstick and talk about suspense novels. 

She was really happy to be going someplace where a reservation was required. Mark parked the car a half mile away because he knew how much she loved to walk. She loved to walk in DC. Adams Morgan was one of her favorite neighborhoods. Tonight he was able to give her just a little bit of what she loved.

“Do you want to go to a birthday dinner for the wife of the senior Senator of Rhode Island? It’s on a Sunday, which probably isn’t the best night for you. But there will be excellent food, conversation, and networking there. Also, there’s the bonus of going on my arm. While I won't be the most accomplished man in the room I will be the most handsome.”

“I can't stay out too late. God,” Erin threw her head back with an exaggerated sigh. “I cannot wait until I never have to use that sentence again. I’d love to go.”

“I’ll owe you one.” He said.

“You will?”

“I know you don’t have to do this and…”

“Oh Mark, you're so damn adorable when you're pretending not to be crazy about me.” Erin stopped walking and put her arms around his neck. “I hope this random, and public, display of affection will ease your mind some.”

“I have this crushing urge to want to stop yet encourage you at the same time.” He put his hands on her hips.

Erin kissed him. She pulled him closer to her and let the kiss turn passionate. It was dark so while people were going to see them they wouldn’t be seen seen. And so what if they were? If you liked someone then you should be able to kiss them. 

You should sigh softly against their lips when they grip your hips. You should run your hands up the nape of their necks and through the back of their hair. Whether the moment is fleeting or everlasting, there was nothing wrong with enjoying the hell out of it. How many people in the world did you ever feel the need to kiss breathless?

“I have to tell you something.” He gave her Eskimo kisses before moving over her lips again. “I'm quite fond of the way you say yes.”

“It’s the only one you're going to get tonight.” She hugged him. 

His body felt nice on hers. It felt comfortable but still sparked a fire in her belly. Erin could get bored with things, with men, easily. Mark was still keeping her interests on all levels.

“Ouch. Is there a lot of studying to do?”

“Actually I'm running five miles tomorrow, seeing how many push-ups and sit-ups I can do in 90 seconds, and target shooting. I just want to be fresh. There's a rumor circulating that in a couple of weeks some agents will take a handful of cadets with them out into the field. We would be working on a current FBI case. It’s just a rumor but I'm not going to miss that kind of opportunity.”

“As well you shouldn’t.” he took her hand again and they kept walking. “You're going to graduate at the top of your class. It would be their loss not to pick you.”

“I'm second right now but holding strong. I think the problem is that I've been second since I walked through the door.” Erin said.

“Women have been in the FBI for over a decade.” Mark said.

“And we've been second class citizens for much longer. You don’t find anything wrong with the statement you just made.”

“I wasn’t thinking about it that way. I was just stating a fact. Hoover didn’t think women would make good agents. Luckily those kinds of thoughts died with him.”

“I'm always thinking about it that way, Mark.”

“Kirk Douglas has your back.” He said. “He thinks you're amazing. He has a lot of clout in this town.”

“I don’t want his clout to be the only reason I go far.” Erin shook her head. “We’re not supposed to be talking about work or the Academy tonight.”

“We can turn the conversation back to the way you say yes.”

She laughed and squeezed his hand. They were almost back to where he parked the car. She loved the walk; loved walking with him. Erin was doing everything in her power not to give over too many feelings for Mark. It wasn’t because he didn’t deserve someone who would love him wholly and support all of his ambitions. 

It was just that she had her own. Sacrificing for someone else wasn’t in the cards right now. And Mark never asked for that but they’d only been seeing each other for five weeks. If he asked now they wouldn’t get very far. But he’d ask eventually…they all did. 

She’d be asked to go to a party for his job over one for her own. She’d be asked to host things. She’d be asked to take time off to have kids and start their family. She’d be demonized for those very same kids not seeing her enough. She’d be expected to go on the campaign trail, look pretty, laugh, and tell the press who made her dress or sweater. 

He would brag about all of her feats and accomplishments but soon they’d be so long gone that Erin would hardly remember them herself. She’d seen it happen to a few women in her life. Some accepted it and altered plans and others fought like hell to stop it. The fighters weren’t in “happy” marriages right now. 

Of course from what Erin saw, neither were the ones who made all the sacrifices. Was anyone truly happy anyway? Having it all was either overrated or a fairy tale. She would have something though. It was in Erin’s best interest to make sure it was something good for her.

“I didn’t get a chance to tell you how much I love the car.” Erin said as Mark opened the door for her. It was a 1985 maroon BMW 325i convertible.

“I thought it was time for a change. I'm moving up in the world and my accoutrements should reflect such.”

“Well this is definitely an accoutrement of a man on the rise.”

Mark smiled as he got into the car. It had set him back a bit but was worth it in the end. He was on the way up in DC; he didn’t need to be in a Datsun. His career was flourishing. 

He was dating a beautiful woman. His mother bragged about him back home. Everything was happening right now. Politics could be a fickle game but Mark believed he’d found a good place for himself. He didn’t even have to feel like he was selling his soul. At least not all of it. 

The game could be bloody, had even been known to rip lesser men to pieces. You had to have a plan and Mark’s was a good one. It was a ten year plan to help the senior Senator retire, take his place, and build a legacy for himself in Congress. He planned to be more than a pretty face though. 

All day long Mark saw men who were complacent, used to just going in and putting a rubber stamp on the day. He didn’t just want to be a politician. He wanted to make a change. Luckily he wasn’t naïve about it. 

“What are you thinking about?” Erin asked as he headed toward the highway and back to Quantico.

“After Sunday it might be a while until we see each other again.” He said. “It’s probably better if I don’t think about it.”

“I’ll give you something to remember me by.”

“Is everything about sex, Erin?” Mark glanced at her.

“If you're lucky. Do you consider yourself lucky?”

***


End file.
